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I thought they're only discontinuing the desktop XPS systems to support their aquired Alienware brand. Or was Alienware big in gaming laptops, too?
I always thought they pretty much just made desktop systems..

Hmm, I thought I read laptops, that they were dropping the XPS laptops to spice up the Inspiron line to be more all-purpose. I mean, they already make Inspirons with 8600GT's, so it wouldn't be much to go up the higher models.

We shall see.

hm.. I hope the one I bought doesn't drop in price immensly like 3 weeks after I get it D:

I thought they're only discontinuing the desktop XPS systems to support their aquired Alienware brand. Or was Alienware big in gaming laptops, too?
I always thought they pretty much just made desktop systems..

Hmm, I thought I read laptops, that they were dropping the XPS laptops to spice up the Inspiron line to be more all-purpose. I mean, they already make Inspirons with 8600GT's, so it wouldn't be much to go up the higher models.

We shall see.

hm.. I hope the one I bought doesn't drop in price immensly like 3 weeks after I get it D:

Did you get it from the Outlet?

The Outlet is where it's at. I got a refurb Inspiron for 700, which would have costed 1250 retail.

It's basically in perfect condition except the DVD drive is noisy and the HD died after 3 weeks. But even after the drive replacement I still saved 400 bucks.

I thought they're only discontinuing the desktop XPS systems to support their aquired Alienware brand. Or was Alienware big in gaming laptops, too?
I always thought they pretty much just made desktop systems..

Hmm, I thought I read laptops, that they were dropping the XPS laptops to spice up the Inspiron line to be more all-purpose. I mean, they already make Inspirons with 8600GT's, so it wouldn't be much to go up the higher models.

We shall see.

hm.. I hope the one I bought doesn't drop in price immensly like 3 weeks after I get it D:

Did you get it from the Outlet?

The Outlet is where it's at. I got a refurb Inspiron for 700, which would have costed 1250 retail.

It's basically in perfect condition except the DVD drive is noisy and the HD died after 3 weeks. But even after the drive replacement I still saved 400 bucks.

no, bought it from the german dell online store, an XPS for like 750€
this was still a better offer than ANY retail discounter offered at that day for laptops worse than that

The title of this thread makes me laugh. When I bought my first Mac 7 years ago many of my friends and family, and people I talked to on the internet basically said "Why the fuck would you want a Mac?"

The title of this thread makes me laugh. When I bought my first Mac 7 years ago many of my friends and family, and people I talked to on the internet basically said "Why the fuck would you want a Mac?"

The title of this thread makes me laugh. When I bought my first Mac 7 years ago many of my friends and family, and people I talked to on the internet basically said "Why the fuck would you want a Mac?"

Their monthly retail market share has been above or around there for the past six months to a year.

They're just not penetrating the business end of the market quite yet. Linux is growing there instead.

It will be a looong time before they ever touch businesses that aren't in the creative industry. Their hardware is far too expensive and they aren't showing any signs of changing that.

Their total dekstop market share is up to like 6% worldwide which is twice what it was one or two years ago.

I have a feeling that with all this iPhone gaming stuff that they have their eye on breaking into the gaming department. They have the business model and the hardware philosophy to succeed. I mean, when you break it down, those iMacs are beastly and aren't too expensive (integrated monitors help a lot). They are definitely game-worthy, they just lack compatibility right now. They have an advantage over PC's as a platform since their hardware is strictly controlled.

They need a mini tower, gamers will never go for a fully integrated and unchangeable set up like that

and if anyone out there is to blame for continuing to perpetuate the myth that macs still suck (because they certainly did versus Windows during the OS8-OS9 days), it's definitely gamers. the only people I heard shit from when sitting at work in front of the brand new iMacs we installed were people that couldn't get their laptops working because they had Vundo after trying to run CALL.OF.DUTY.4-KEYGEN.EXE

"You guys have Macs now? That sucks, time to look for a new job huh? heh heh heh heh"

The title of this thread makes me laugh. When I bought my first Mac 7 years ago many of my friends and family, and people I talked to on the internet basically said "Why the fuck would you want a Mac?"

Now everyone wants one, or has one.

Fucking hypocrites, all of you.

if by everyone you mean 2% of the market..... ?

I've had a Mac since the day I was born

It's weird, really. My dad got an Apple II when they were first released (he's got the case signed by some of the original makers of the Apple II, I think) and then we always got the new Macs every couple of years. I spent my entire childhood fiddling with OS9 and whenever I used PCs they would feel so confusing and poorly optimised.

They need a mini tower, gamers will never go for a fully integrated and unchangeable set up like that

and if anyone out there is to blame for continuing to perpetuate the myth that macs still suck (because they certainly did versus Windows during the OS8-OS9 days), it's definitely gamers. the only people I heard shit from when sitting at work in front of the brand new iMacs we installed were people that couldn't get their laptops working because they had Vundo after trying to run CALL.OF.DUTY.4-KEYGEN.EXE

"You guys have Macs now? That sucks, time to look for a new job huh? heh heh heh heh"

Plenty of gamers do go for that though, they're called PS3's and Xbox 360's... I don't think that modular PC's are that conducive to game development (and some developers have been quoted on that), and if Apple can organize a gaming platform that conforms to its hardware in 2-4 year increments then they are basically talking about a high powered gaming platform with all the software capabilities of a PC but with none of the bullshit, for both users and developers.

Some, maybe even a lot of PC gamers may hate the Mac but relatively few game developers give a shit about the PC anymore. The number of original PC games (ie: not ports) has diminished a lot, and the small remaining PC market versus the technical challenges of PC development (hardware compatibility) is probably to blame.

They need a mini tower, gamers will never go for a fully integrated and unchangeable set up like that

and if anyone out there is to blame for continuing to perpetuate the myth that macs still suck (because they certainly did versus Windows during the OS8-OS9 days), it's definitely gamers. the only people I heard shit from when sitting at work in front of the brand new iMacs we installed were people that couldn't get their laptops working because they had Vundo after trying to run CALL.OF.DUTY.4-KEYGEN.EXE

"You guys have Macs now? That sucks, time to look for a new job huh? heh heh heh heh"

Plenty of gamers do go for that though, they're called PS3's and Xbox 360's... I don't think that modular PC's are that conducive to game development (and some developers have been quoted on that), and if Apple can organize a gaming platform that conforms to its hardware in 2-4 year increments then they are basically talking about a high powered gaming platform with all the software capabilities of a PC but with none of the bullshit, for both users and developers.

Some, maybe even a lot of PC gamers may hate the Mac but relatively few game developers give a shit about the PC anymore. The number of original PC games (ie: not ports) has diminished a lot, and the small remaining PC market versus the technical challenges of PC development (hardware compatibility) is probably to blame.

Okay, I can kind of agree with that. I still think that a ton of PC gamers are stupid as hell and aren't going to actually buy anything Apple releases until after it's been wholly accepted by everyone who doesn't buy a $600 graphics card every two years for a few extra FPS

I could see them going the way of Steam and releasing a game delivery service that would really streamline the entire process more than Valve has been able to do. Like Xbox Live but for desktops. And instead of paying a subscription you just have to buy a Mac.

They need a mini tower, gamers will never go for a fully integrated and unchangeable set up like that

and if anyone out there is to blame for continuing to perpetuate the myth that macs still suck (because they certainly did versus Windows during the OS8-OS9 days), it's definitely gamers. the only people I heard shit from when sitting at work in front of the brand new iMacs we installed were people that couldn't get their laptops working because they had Vundo after trying to run CALL.OF.DUTY.4-KEYGEN.EXE

"You guys have Macs now? That sucks, time to look for a new job huh? heh heh heh heh"

Plenty of gamers do go for that though, they're called PS3's and Xbox 360's... I don't think that modular PC's are that conducive to game development (and some developers have been quoted on that), and if Apple can organize a gaming platform that conforms to its hardware in 2-4 year increments then they are basically talking about a high powered gaming platform with all the software capabilities of a PC but with none of the bullshit, for both users and developers.

Some, maybe even a lot of PC gamers may hate the Mac but relatively few game developers give a shit about the PC anymore. The number of original PC games (ie: not ports) has diminished a lot, and the small remaining PC market versus the technical challenges of PC development (hardware compatibility) is probably to blame.

Okay, I can kind of agree with that. I still think that a ton of PC gamers are stupid as hell and aren't going to actually buy anything Apple releases until after it's been wholly accepted by everyone who doesn't buy a $600 graphics card every two years for a few extra FPS

I could see them going the way of Steam and releasing a game delivery service that would really streamline the entire process more than Valve has been able to do. Like Xbox Live but for desktops. And instead of paying a subscription you just have to buy a Mac.

Basically. I think the root of the PC gaming problem is that developing for the PC is simply not easy.

I remember listening to an interview with the lead designer of Tribes 2 back in 2001 and he quoted something like millions of possible hardware/driver configurations for PC's that had to be tested and optimized for (performance wise). Basically since it's impossible to actually do that they just have to test for what's most common/reasonable.

If you introduce a PC environment where the hardware is generally consistent over the course of several years you can woo developers, and once you get games on it then the people will come.

The idea of consistent hardware is that you can make it so that the PC gaming smacktards don't need to buy a 600 dollar video card every year. You legislate performance benchmarks based on your hardware, just like Sony and Microsoft do.

Could they make the hardware cheaper? Yeah probably, just like they are making the iPhone cheaper, but definitely not off the bat... only after it gains steam and they are selling more hardware.

If Apple decides to take ANY steps towards a unified gaming platform, you can bet your ass it will require Snow Leopard and be Intel only.

Probably, that would be the logical point to flesh out their gaming support.

Intel only, of course... I don't see why not. As far as I am aware, AMD is getting their ass kicked up and down the street in the raw performance category.

Do they even have a 45nm chip out yet?

Intel only as in abandoning PowerPC support completely.

Well they've all but done that anyway haven't they?

Aren't the Cocoa API's Intel only? Carbon is there only for legacy support.

They'd have to drop PPC eventually. They stopped PPC because it was weighing them down, so, why let legacy support cripple them like it has to Microsoft.

Snow Leopard is under the hood stuff but isn't is a 64 bit OS as opposed to Leopard which is only 32 bit? That alone is a decent reason to step up. It's not like they charge 400 dollars like Microsoft. Probably be cheap.

Okay, pretend you walk into a store. You see a Snow Leopard box. The back has ZERO new features listed. Would you pay $99 for it?

I realize that it establishes a lot of background architecture, and that's nice, but as a consumer, why would i pay for it?

edit: to elaborate, pretty much the only thing Apple can advertise about Snow Leopard to regular consumers is that it's faster. I'm not sure that's something hordes of people are going to pay money for.

I highly suspect that it will either be a free update, or cost no more than $30.